HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT+ 2° HISTORY - FACTS - FIGURES - SOLUTIONS HTTPS://WORLDCONFERENCE.CROIX-ROUGE.FR Table of contents 2 INTRODUCTION Yet Another Climate Report? No! 9 FIRST PART Climate Change: from Awareness to Action 21 SECOND PART Eight Challenges (but only one Earth!) 22 CHALLENGE 1: Mitigating Health Risks Related to Disasters 30 CHALLENGE 2: Adapting to Heatwaves in Urban Areas 38 CHALLENGE 3: Preventing Epidemic Risks: Community-Based Approach and Public Health 44 CHALLENGE 4: Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Needs 52 CHALLENGE 5: Addressing Food Insecurity and Malnutrition 60 CHALLENGE 6: Addressing the Health Challenges of Climate-Induced Population Movements 68 CHALLENGE 7: Preventing Health Needs Related to the Combined Effects of Conflict and Climate 76 CHALLENGE 8: Protecting Ecosystems to Promote Health 84 The French Red Cross and Climate Change 91 THIRD PART Our Recommendations 94 CONCLUSION Our Responsibility 98 Acknowledgements MYOP 1 TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C NP GUILLAUME BINET/ Introduction 2 TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C Introduction 3 Yet Another Climate Report? No! This call, we will his document is neither a scientific report, a symposium highlight it and report, nor a new alert. It is not an operational guide or a presentation of good practices from the five continents. Or bring it to all national and rather, it is a bit of each of these, all at once. international institutions; it will be the cornerstone of our TIt is designed for all those who want to understand the links between climate and health, and who want to know how to mitigate the health mobilization in order to bring consequences of climate change. It contains figures, examples of awareness of the population’s concrete actions, good practices and recommendations to address the health into account in this climatic st greatest public health challenge of the 21 century. crisis, which is The issue of climate change and its consequences occupies a large part just beginning.” of the global agenda. At various levels from one continent to another and as the political landscape shifts, humans are increasingly aware Excerpt from the closing speech of Professor JEAN-JACQUES ELEDJAM, of the threat their lifestyles pose to their own future and that of their President of the French Red Cross, ecosystem. Cannes, 16 April 2019. Stéphane Rémael@LaCompany As usual, the most fragile and vulnerable people are the first and the most affected. The specific issue of health consequences is not yet This document, originally published in French, has been translated into sufficiently addressed. English, Spanish and Arabic. You can find the different versions on the website https://worldconference.croix-rouge.fr 2 TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C Introduction 3 100 years later, health emergency is different but still present. The need to coordinate the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was undeniable. As, while epidemics were the greatest public health challenge of the first half of the 20th century, they only make up a tiny fraction of the 21st century health consequences of climate change. 2019 was the warmest year ever recorded. 2019, a year marked by heatwaves in Europe, India and Pakistan, forest fires in the Amazon, floods in North America, Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, and Hurricane Idai in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. 2019, a year of citizen mobilisations and COP 25 in Madrid. 2019, the year of the World Conference on “Health and Climate Change” hosted in Cannes by the French Red Cross, attended by representatives from more than 70 countries. 1919 – 2019: Rising to the challenges of one’s century In 1919, the world was recovering from four years of deadly war, yet, the number of casualties was much lower than that of the “Spanish” flu epidemic that was rampant in all continents. The Red Cross National Committees, each operating in its own territory, were completely overwhelmed. At the beginning of 1919, typhus broke out in Poland and threatened to spread to Europe. The Red Cross could not remain inactive, and, Henry Davison, then chairman of the American committee, called on all National Committees to come together and form an international Red Cross organisation in peacetime, in order to coordinate their operations as best they could to combat the future epidemic. To this end, he convened an international medical conference in Cannes from 1 to 11 April, with the support of the French, British, Italian and Japanese committees. The conference was a great success, both in terms of the quality of its participants – the elite of the international medical profession (at least of the victorious nations) was present – and for its unanimous and ambitious conclusions. It was at that conference that a Health Bureau was established as a prelude to the World Health Organisation, and when it emerged that there was an urgent need for a body to coordinate Red Cross committees to act in peacetime. “It is up to us to build something, not for the present, but for all times,” said Henry Davison on that occasion. 4 TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C Introduction 5 Climate change: what exactly is it about? Our planet has already recorded global warming by about 1°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). This warming is attributed to greenhouse gas emissions from the human activities developed since industrialisation: energy, industry, transport, agriculture, housing, waste, etc. By keeping up the current rate of emissions, it is likely that a 1.5°C global warming above pre-industrial levels will be reached between 2030 and 2052.1 These degree decimals are paramount. Indeed, the Paris Climate Agreement, which was adopted at COP 21 by almost all countries in the world, commits its signatories to contain “the rise in the average temperature of the planet well below 2°C above FOCUS pre-industrial levels and [to pursue] efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, on the understanding that this would significantly reduce the WORD CONFERENCE ON HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE: risks and effects of climate change.”2 “TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C” The differences between 1.5°C and 2°C are significant and even alarming: increases in In 1919, the Red Crosses of Japan, the United States, Italy, Great Britain and France met in Cannes to prepare a response to the great challenges of the average temperatures on land and in the oceans, extreme temperatures, heavy rains 20th century, and to launch the International Federation of Red Cross and Red or severe droughts depending on the region. These consequences are called climate Crescent Societies, which is now the world’s leading humanitarian movement. change. They lead to many imbalances not only affecting human health, but also biodiversity, livelihoods and economic growth. 100 years later - to the day - 70 countries gathered at the initiative of the French Red Cross to respond to the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century under the topic “Health and Climate Change: Taking Care of Humankind at +2°C.” At the premises of the founding conference of 1919, more than 80 high-level speakers from all walks of life - political leaders, scientists, academics, field humanitarian operators, entrepreneurs, young leaders of the future, members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement - shared their perspectives and compared their knowledge over 12 conferences covering topics as diverse as urban heatwaves, mental health, epidemics, population “The health effects of climate change are movements, food insecurity, ecosystem protection, etc. unacceptable, unequivocal and are being More than 500 participants from 70 countries came to understand, discuss and experienced by everyone around propose concrete and innovative solutions. This first “humanitarian COP” made it possible to highlight the singular the world today. No one is safe. initiative of the Red Cross and its partners, based on ideas that are as simple as NICK WATTS, Executive Director of Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on they are essential and actions that are concrete as they are urgent. Health and Climate Change This document recaps the main ideas developed at the World Conference. All content is available on the dedicated website: worldconference.croix-rouge.frFOCUSFOCUS 4 TAKING CARE OF HUMANKIND AT +2°C IntroductionIntroduction 5 5 How are climate change and health connected? “To reduce the likelihood that the impacts of climate change will seriously affect This document uses the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of health: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely our health, we need to set up effective the absence of disease and infirmity.” There are three identified types of impacts of adaptation mechanisms climate change on human health: and reduce greenhouse gas > Direct health consequences The consequences of climate change can cause direct harm to the physical or emissions. mental integrity of individuals. Indeed, the gradual rise in temperatures or the SIR ANDY HAINES, Professor of Environmental Change and Public increased occurrence of extreme weather or climatic events often takes a heavy toll Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on human lives, in addition to causing anxiety, as well as a number of psychological disorders. > Indirect health consequences Climate change also contributes to the deterioration of the health conditions in which people live, by altering the quality of breathing air, the quality of water absorbed or by altering the spatial and temporal nature of areas conducive to The difference between mitigation and adaptation pathogens (bacteria, disease vectors, allergenic pollen, etc.). There are two approaches to tackling climate change. The first is mitigation, aimed at > Consequences on the social, economic and environmental determinants of health reducing or deleting the causes of climate change, mainly greenhouse gas emissions.